Since posting this article three years ago, I noticed that some of the male pollinators from former date orchards were recycled as exclusively male groves for isolated landscapes between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and between Los Angeles and Phoenix (which, incidentally, is named for the species). Some were installed around highway interchanges. Some are at resorts.
No one likes a bad date.
Date orchards that were displaced by the expansion of urban sprawl around Las Vegas in the 1990s were the source of the many recycled mature date palms that briefly became popular for large scale landscapes at the time. Most of the trees within the orchards were female, with only a few male pollinators. (Pollinators can live remotely, where they provide pollen for dusting.)
Male trees were undesirable anyway, at least in conjunction with female trees. They are taller and lankier, with less pendulous foliage, so are less visually appealing. More importantly, they pollinate female flowers so that they make fruit. Of course, in orchards, fruit is very important. In landscapes, it is just a mess. Without male pollinators, female trees produce no messy fruit.
Consequently, most male trees were not recycled. Some were installed singly, or in exclusively male colonies, in landscapes that were…
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Tony Tomeo 